Sad Exchange
by LiLAqUaMaRiE
Summary: Nick and Natalia have it out and this sad exchange pleased neither one of them. [Prompt Challenge Number: 13]


**Title:** Sad Exchange  
**Author:** LiLAqUaMaRiE  
**Fandom:** CSI: Miami  
**Pairings/Characters:** Natalia Boa Vista, Nick Townsend, and Horatio Caine  
**Rating:** R/M/FRM  
**Warning: **Death, blood, abuse  
**Genre:** Drama, tragedy  
**Spoilers: **None.  
**Word Count: **2,347  
**Challenge Fic:** #11  
**Challenge Word:** #13 – Dark  
**Summary:** Nick and Natalia have it out and this sad exchange pleased neither one of them.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own "CSI: Miami" or anything related to it. So don't sue me please!!!! I'm already poor as it is. Don't need a lawsuit to put me out on the street.  
**Note:** I wanted to do a Nick and Nat fic for so long now, that after hearing the song "Never Again" by Nickelback, I felt it was so them.

* * *

_He's drunk again, it's time to fight  
Same old shit, just on a different night  
She grabs the gun, she's had enough  
Tonight she'll find out how fucking  
Tough is this man _  
– "Never Again" by Nickelback

**SAD EXCHANGE**

* * *

Soundlessly, she stared down at the floor below; her eyes gazed over the scene before her. Somehow, beyond her, she had found the energy to stand still and not fall over. Her whole body was in pain, almost every inch of skin on her ached if she moved even the slightest bit. Physically, she was exhausted and in tremendous pain; mentally, she was in shock and detached to the world around her; all in all, she was a wreck. 

The silence in the room was deafening. The only sound that seemed to slowly reach her ears was her own breathing. She was breathing heavily as her shoulders shook with each breath. Slowly, the shaking and tremors in her body began as reality started to seep its way into her mind. Without her truly understanding the bits of reality she had started to grasp, fear started to etch its way onto her bruised face.

What had happened wasn't something that she had planned; it wasn't something that she even once considered. It just happened. It just did. And she didn't know how she's supposed to react or what to say. There wasn't anyone to guide her, or direct her – she was alone in this and she just wanted it all to end.

Frozen still, she stood where she was; her eyes never left where they were as they continued to stare downward. Her arms lay limply at her sides, they were dirty – she was dirty. In one hand she held something, it was small but heavy. It was odd but familiar. It wasn't hers but somehow now it was. She never used it but now she did.

Across from her on the cold floor below lay her ex-husband. He was dead. She killed him, killed him with his own gun. Nick Townsend was dead.

Natalia just stared down at him.

* * *

**A few hours earlier**

_"Nick please!" Natalia begged as her ex-husband continued to kick her at her sides, "Don't do this…" She curled up into a ball as she attempted to seek solace from the pain she was feeling – but the idea was pointless. Nick grabbed a fist full of her hair and yanked her up from the floor; in turn his brutal treatment made her yelp in pain._

"_Don't do this…" He repeated her words as he started to mock her, "Oh please Nick, stop." He had a sinister smirk upon his face as he continued to mock her as he stared down into her bloody face. "You're hurting me…." He harshly grabbed her chin with his free hand, "You should have known better than to go about with other men." He released her chin to caress her bruised cheek with his index finger, "Baby, don't you know you're mine." _

_He leaned down and kissed her forcefully, but quickly released her as Natalia bit him. As he was startled for a moment, Natalia took that chance to run out of the bedroom of her apartment, heading toward the empty living room._

_Nick, who had been touching his bloody lip in shock, glanced upward to watch her run away in anger. "You bitch; you'll pay for that…"_

* * *

**Present Time**

Natalia lifted her hands upward to stare at them closely; they were bruised, cut, and bloody. In silence her eyes traveled over to the gun in her hand, she eyed at it as if in a daze before she ended up throwing it across the room. Tears swept down her face without her realizing it and her legs felt as if they were full of lead; she just wanted to fall onto the floor below.

Nevertheless, she managed to find some bit of strength within her so she was able to walk over in trembling footsteps to where a fallen cell phone lay on the floor across the room. It was hers; Nick had thrown it in an attempt to dissuade her actions of trying to seek help. She picked it up; it was still working and she dialed a familiar number. Unfortunately, voicemail came up and she was left with the option of leaving just a message; it was simple and short – "Horatio, I need you." After that, she just hung up and dropped the cell phone back onto the floor.

She turned back around to stare at the dead body.

Nick had come to her apartment earlier that day, unbeknownst to her. She had been out in a crime scene and her car had gotten into a mishap as it received a flat tire from a chase she was in the middle off with her partner Calleigh Duquesne. The suspect was captured however, the crime had been solved and it had been time to go home and rest, but seeing as her car was unable to move, Horatio Caine had offered to drive her home. Unfortunately, Nick had seen her with Horatio and it seemed to have had anger him to no end. And once she had entered her apartment, she had come face to face with the devil himself. It was as if hell had come onto earth, more exactly onto her.

* * *

**A few hours earlier**

"_You can run Natalia," Nick bellowed out as he stormed his way into the living room, "but you can't hide." He stopped walking as he reached the middle of the room, glancing around as he continued to taunt her. "Come out, come out little kitty," his eyes held an evil look, "Daddy wants to play with you…"_

_Natalia breathed in fear as she hid behind the sofa; there wasn't really anywhere good that she could completely hide away. She had, in actuality, wanted to reach the door to exit out of her apartment and seek some help but as she was on her way, she heard Nick come closer and opted to duck and cover out of fear. _

_His words had bothered her, scared her senseless as it always did when they were once married. He just knew how to scare her shitless and no matter how many times she could try and tell herself she was now stronger and not weak, she would just realize that her own words were just lies. She was weak and he used that knowledge to his advantage._

* * *

**Present Time**

Natalia did not know how long she had been standing there as she stared at the dead body in front of her but she couldn't remove her eyes from it. It was as if she was mesmerized by the blood that oozed out of the now dead body. Blood, blood was everywhere – around her apartment, on Nick, on the gun, - on her. It was bright and wet, terribly bright. She was stained with that bright color; everything was covered with that stain. She couldn't stop staring at it – at the dead body, at the blood, at her hands.

"Natalia…"

A voice broke into her thoughts and she slowly tilted her face to the side; before her stood her Horatio Caine. "Sweetheart," Caine spoke out gently as he took slow cautious steps towards her, "you're safe now…" He reached her and was about to touch her bare shoulder when she jerked away while backing up against a nearby wall.

She shook her head, "I-I'm bad." She spoke in a monotone, "I didn't mean to…." Her eyes held so much emotion as they shined brightly with tears. "He…and it was there…." She glanced at him with fear still etched upon her face, "Had to do it – he was…he was…" And for the first time since everything had happened, Natalia Boa Vista broke down. She slowly slid against the wall to the floor below as her bloody hands trembled in front of her. She did not know what to do with them – cover her face as she cried or let them fall instead – they were just there trembling. Tears ran freely as she sobbed her soul out, her sobs continued even as she tried to curl herself up into a small ball – it was her attempt to hide away from everything that had happened to her.

Horatio stood still as he watched her, his heart broke at the scene. It was just a sad sight; Natalia was his friend, part of his little family, one of his team – one of his and to see her or any of them like this was just downright sad. Horatio studied her for a moment, planning out in his mind a better way of approaching her without her feeling frightened or smothered. He had to reach out to her and show her he wasn't there to harm her but instead to help.

He took a few steps closer to her and crouched down besides her, while not doing any sudden movements that could startle her this time around. "It's okay sweetheart." His tone of voice was gentle – soothing. "Do not fear," he gave her a soft smile, "You are no longer in danger." Slowly he stretched out a hand towards her; Horatio never lost the smile as he continued to speak to her as he tried to coax her into responding, "I'm here. You're safe now."

Natalia, who trembled with fear, watched the man before her warily. Part of her mind knew this was her boss, a good guy, her friend – Horatio Caine, but with what had happened to her, every inch of her was scared to death of anyone. She did not know if she wanted anyone to touch her at all or ever again for that matter. Mutely, she stared at the red haired man before her as he continued to talk to her in a soothing tone; she barely listened to his words, except for his last three words that rang loudly within her ears.

"You're safe now."

* * *

**A few hours earlier**

"_Come out Natalia, I know you're in here." Nick's taunting voice continued as he started to laugh diabolically at her expense. "You're just wasting precious time that we can make better use of baby." He walked closer towards the sofa, knowing full well Natalia was behind it all the time. He just wanted to scare her, to taunt her – he always did love playing cat and mouse games with her._

"_Last chance Natalia…." His voice got louder which each word, "I'm going to start counting and if by the end of three you don't come out yourself," he paused for dramatic effect, "You'll regret it." He was getting closer to the sofa as he slowly counted, "1…"_

_Natalia had heard his words and her eyes widened in fear. She did not know what to do, she was going to die and no one was going to know, no one was going to come and rescue her. She was alone and she had no way of escaping. _

"_2…"_

_She closed her eyes briefly as she dreaded the next number. She swallowed hard as her she wracked her mind for some sort of idea – maybe she should just give up, surrender herself to his mercy. She opened her eyes and as they opened her eyesight landed on something near her – it was a gun, Nick's gun that she had managed to kick out of his hand earlier when he had tried to use it against her. She completely forgot about it being there due to her fear. _

"_3…"_

_Natalia knew this was her only chance, it was now or never. There couldn't be any mistakes, it was him or her. And with a strength that erupted slowly from out of nowhere she rolled away just as Nick was about to pounce on her and grabbed the gun. Once it was in her hands, she didn't bother to check if it had bullets, she didn't bother to just use it to scare him off – once it was in her hands, she aimed at him. She watched with detached fascination as his eyes widened as he realized in that short moment what was about to happened. It was all so surreal and slow – as if it were all in slow motion. She lifted her arms as she held the gun within her hands and aimed at his heart, without blinking she pulled back the trigger._

_A shot rang out._

_Nick stood still for a moment, before he lifted his hand to touch his bloody wound as he lifted his head to stare directly at Natalia. "You…shot….me…." and with those words he fell limply to the cold floor below him; dead._

_Natalia's eyes followed his fall; she was lost within her own mind. She still couldn't grasp the idea of what she had just done – she just murdered someone. She continued to stare at the dead body as her hands fell limply at her sides; she still clutched the gun in one of her bloody hands._

* * *

**Present Time**

Natalia slowly lifted her face to stare at the Lieutenant before her as she quietly spoke out a word, "safe." She swallowed slowly and tried again, "I'm safe now?" she asked in a whisper.

Horatio nodded with a small sad smile playing upon his lips, "Yes Natalia, you're safe now." His outstretched arm never wavered and Natalia's eyes fell upon it.

She stared at it in silence.

Slowly and soundlessly she lifted one of her own arms and stretched it out to him, it trembled on its way until her hand was clasped within his. Once it was, Horatio's fingers wrapped around her hand in a firm grip as he gently helped her upward to stand, allowing her to lean on him for help and comfort.

"It's over Natalia," he whispered to her, "Your nightmare has ended."

She leaned on him for support as her whole body was weak. Quietly, she lifted her face to stare up at him and asked in a voice full of innocence of a lost child, "Safe?" she asked again in fear that she was living a dream.

With a tremendous care, Horatio wrapped his arms around her before he responded to her as gently as possible, "You're safe now." His grip on her got tighter, "safe."

**FIN.**


End file.
